She said the data showed seals travelling in straight lines in between the turbines, "as if he was checking them out for potential prey and then stopping to forage at certain ones".

"Although marine mammals have previously been observed in the vicinity of offshore man-made structures such as wind farms, as far as we know this is the first time it has been demonstrated that some individuals have an affinity with the structures themselves," Russell said.

"From the data we can infer that these individuals are foraging at the structures, likely as a result of a reef effect. The behaviour observed could have implications for both offshore wind farm developments and the decommissioning of oil and gas infrastructure."

One of the seals tracked in the study Deborah Russell/University of St Andrews

Russell said that although their findings were notable, the development of manmade structures can have negative impacts on marine wildlife.

"The study showed that operational wind farms can provide foraging opportunities for some individuals. However, the study only considered the effect on marine mammals during the operational stage of wind farms.

"It is during the construction phase that wind farms are predicted to have the most dramatic negative effect on marine mammals ... [However, future structures] could be designed to maximise any potential ecological benefits to marine wildlife."